His name was Peter Rowen. He was the younger brother of Derek "Guggi" Rowen (a friend of Bono's) and Trever "Strongman" Rowen of a group called The Virgin Prunes. He lived across the street from Bono, according to some sources.
Modeling work with U2:
It was Bono who suggested in 1979 that the "cute, innocent-looking six-year-old" Peter Rowen would be a good cover for their upcoming album Boy as well as the covers of their singles at the time: I Will Follow and Three. Peter was taken down and they photographed him in his now iconic pose. Then, three years later they called on him again to be photographed for the band's third album War and its surrounding singles New Year's Day and Two Hearts Beat As One. He also appeared in the music video for Two Hearts around this time, which lead him into a short stint as an actor.
Acting, Skateboarding, and Photography
Following his work with U2, he worked in television and even motion pictures in roles he's just "fallen in to," once appearing in a 1993 TV movie called "The Snapper" as "Sonny Curley," and in a motion picture called "The Commitments" in 1991 as a "Shy Skateboard Auditioner."
Modeling work with U2:
It was Bono who suggested in 1979 that the "cute, innocent-looking six-year-old" Peter Rowen would be a good cover for their upcoming album Boy as well as the covers of their singles at the time: I Will Follow and Three. Peter was taken down and they photographed him in his now iconic pose. Then, three years later they called on him again to be photographed for the band's third album War and its surrounding singles New Year's Day and Two Hearts Beat As One. He also appeared in the music video for Two Hearts around this time, which lead him into a short stint as an actor.
Following his work with U2, he worked in television and even motion pictures in roles he's just "fallen in to," once appearing in a 1993 TV movie called "The Snapper" as "Sonny Curley," and in a motion picture called "The Commitments" in 1991 as a "Shy Skateboard Auditioner."
Peter also went on to become the "skateboard champion of Ireland," and as of the late 90's was working in a skateboard shop (according to one source). He currently works as a freelance photographer and has said in interviews he's always loved photography and is a fan of the work of Anton Corbijn (who worked with U2).
In 1998, the expectation behind U2's first "greatest hits" compilation caused some interest in Peter Rowen, who was to be pictured on the cover and on other places in the album. (Including the picture on page 8 of the compilation booklet.) Here's a magazine clipping from that time period:
U2 Boy Has Finally Found What He Is Looking For
From the Daily Mirror, November 3rd, 1998
By Neil Michael
Peter Rowen, the boy who made U2 famous on the cover of an album is seeking his fortune at the other end of the camera. But now the "boy" the band plastered over their early albums has grown up to map out a career of his own. "I'm working as a photographer at the moment, but I want to do more Rolling Stone magazine kind of stuff," he said last night. Peter shot to fame on album covers in 1980 and 1983. Then his brother Guggi was the lead singer of the Virgin Prunes and a close pal of U2 singer Bono. Bono suggested the cute, innocent-looking six-year-old child would make a good picture for an album, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Peter is featured naked from the waist with his arms behind his neck on the front cover of Boy and was also pictured on the cover of the band's first single Three. When he was nine, he was photographed with the famous American army helmet for the band's third album War, which is also used on the front cover of the band's Greatest Hits album.
"It feels good to see my picture staring out at me from shop windows," said Peter. "I never really thought about it that much before, but now it's kind of hard to escape from it." And he added: "It's fairly true to say that I am more famous for those U2 pictures than anything I have done since. But I hope to change that soon enough. It would be good to work for U2, but this time at the other side of the lens."
Their new album [Best of U2 1980-1990] is expected to be sold out by the end of the week. "It was better than anything we have had for a U2 album, and certainly better than when Titanic when on sale," said a Virgin spokesperson.
More recently (2004), The Sun tracked down Peter Rowen as U2 were releasing their album How to Dismatle an Atomic Bomb in an article called "U2 Look Familiar". He was 30 at the time.A very interesting piece of information from this source is that payment for his photographs, at least for the album Boy, came in the form of chocolate. Peter said "A box of Mars Bars was part of the fee."
Current Day Photography:The boy once pictured on the U2 albums has grown up and works as a freelance photographer serving a wide variety of clients. His professional services and news about his life and works he offers at the following sites:
http://fresh.peterrowen.com/
http://www.peterrowenweddings.com
http://pete74.zenfolio.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Rowen-Photography/104473966253843
http://peterrowenphoto.blogspot.com/
